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tv   Americas News Headquarters  FOX News  December 30, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PST

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we need further research on this. but viso many patient who is are noncompliant, this is a microchip -- this is the future. >> you mentioned once a year. you would have to go back in and reprogram it -- restock it. >> right now, it's once every 20 days, but that will be too often to have a procedure. >> eric wants to know when that's going to be available. >> 2014. >> eric: this is great stuff. we want it now -- >> it will be. a year from now, it will be. >> you can always take that out and put a new implant and readjust it. >> eric: wonderful to see you. happy new year. we will see you in the new year. >> eric: thank you for the great advice this morning. >> nice to see you. >> eric: a fox news alert. crunch time on capitol hill. congressional leaders, right now, with the last-minute negotiations, to try to avoid
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$500 billion in spending cuts and tax increases that are set to go into effect, just under 48 hours from now. that is, unless the politicians in washington come up with a deal to pull back from the so call fiscal cliff. good morning on this sunday morning. >> i'm heather childers. welcome to a brand-new edition of america's news headquarters. there is still no concrete plan on the table. instead, lawmakers have given themselves by 3:00 p.m. today to come up with a compromise agreement that will have enough support to survive both a vote in both houses of congress. chief white house correspondent ed henry is live with more. >> good morning. interesting because the president, in his first sunday show, tv appearance since 2009, when he was pushing health care reform and went on "meet the press" to pound a message over and over, that in his estimation, the onus is on republicans over the next 24 to
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48 hour, basically saying, if they don't put together that bipartisan deal in the senate that you just mentioned, they should have a vote in the house and in the senate on the president's stop-gap measure to extend unemployment benefits and extend tax cuts, only for those making $250,000 or less. the president suggesting, playing the blame game, saying, if the republicans don't hold a vote on his plan, they will be at fault, take a listen. >> i think that over the next 48 hours, my hope is that the people recognize that regardless of partisan differences, our top priority has to be to make sure that taxes on middle-class families do not go up that would hurt our economy badly. >> interesting, the president focusing as he has over and over in recent day, as have lders on the hill about the tax side of the so-called fiscal cliff, massive tax increases, bush tax rates expiring at the end of the
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year. but a lot of people, not fireworkussing on the sequester, the massive spending cut, that would largely target the pentagon. interesting on fox news sunday, republican lindy graham said he got a phone call from the defense secretary, saying even if there is a deal on tax, it is likely they won't have a deal on the spending cuts. so our national defense will take a hit. take a listen. >> not going to happen -- >> i talked to leon panetta last night, 7:30, during dinner -- >> secretary of defense? >> he said, lindsay, i have been told nothing of sequestration will go into effect, and that is the debt ceiling increase, half of the $1.2 falls on defense. we have cut $89 billion. he said, it would be shooting the defense department in the head and we will have to send out 800,000 layoff notices the beginning of the year. he is worried to death if we don't fix sequestration, we will
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destroy the finest military in the worlds when we need it most. >> if the sequestration goes through, massive impact on our national defense. if the tax rate issue is not settled, we could be facing the largest tax increase in american history since world war ii. largest tax increase since world war ii. finally, the president noting in "meet the press," if there is no deal, we could see the markets take a bill -- big hit when they reopen after the new year's holiday. >> hence world war ii. thank you, we appreciate it. >> eric: the president this morning, blaming the republicans. is that fair? republican south carolina, a member of the house budget committee is here. i apologize -- congressman, welcome, thanks for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> eric: you heard ed henry's report, saying the president is blaming the g.o.p., saying that the republicans have had trouble
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saying yes to a number of offers. what do you make of that? >> it's the first i have heard of it. i am a little disappointed in it, to be honest with you. i am a little surprised that the president fresh off the election is saying that the speaker of the house is supposed to lead the country. he is supposed to lead, his party is the more difficult to get legislation through. so for him to say in the last 24 hours before the tax increases that it's up to john boehner to fix things surprises me and disappoints me a great deal. >> eric: obviously, you are faulting, in your view, a lack of presidential leadership? not only faulting, i think a lot of folks are not focused, i have believed that the president wants to go over the cliff. peter orszag, telling the president 3 and 4 years that the tax rates needed to go up. howard dean was making the rounds for months, saying that tax rates need to go up.
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nancy pelosi thinks the tax rates should go up on everybody. does the president have the political will to go against his own party? what we are seeing so far, he is not. we read his first offer, when he sat down with mr. boehner, mr. boehner said here's $800 billion for revenue and what do i get for that? the president allegedly said, that's for free. that's not evidence 6 somebody who wants a deal who, wants to lead. >> eric: what would you like to see? >> i would like to see a clean deal. i would like to see something that fixes the problem. keep in mind, one of the things that frustrates me is that the fiscal cliff is getting all of this attention, when it's real. i don't want to diminish it. but it's a drop in the bucket. the tax increases that the president wants that represent 8 cents of every dollar of debt. we are not dealing with the overall problem. that's what i would like to see. something that brings as much attention to the $16 trillion
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debt, as it does to the relatively small tax increases. that's what i would like to see, the government dealing with the serious questions, not the immediately pressing questions? >> how do we deal with it? $16 trillion debt, projected to go up to $20 trillion over the next 2 years, if you are washington can't deal with that. how do you solve that? can it be solved? what do we face if we get past the fiscal cliff in the next two days? have you that $16 trillion staring us in the face? >> eric, let's look for a silver lining in this fiscal cliff discussion. i think what we are hearing from the american public, loud and clear is that they don't want to pay any more taxes. they don't want to pay for the government they are getting that. leaves two choices. number 1, we continue to borrow money or reduce spending. we won't have the option to borrow forever. so we have to reduce spending.
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if the american people will get as fired up about reducing spending, we might have a chance to fix that. clearly, that message hasn't gotten through to the white house and to the senate. it is heard loud and clear in the house, but we control just the house. >> eric: how do you get that message across and the american people say, instead of dealing with the tacks going up -- trying to deal with the other side of this issue? >> we continue to have the debate. that's what this is about. that's why we are on television and why we do what we do in the house, to try to draw attention to the fact that we have a spending problem. it sounds like it's been repeated so often, people stop paying attention. the president's tax increases that he wants, the pound of flesh that he wants from the richest americans and when making $250,000 became the richest americans -- i don't know, but that's another story. we do have a spending problem. we have to fix it. if we are going to get anything that solves the fiscal cliff, it will have to include spending. we will have to deal with the
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debt ceiling. we need to focus on spending, as much as we can because it will be the demise of this country. >> eric: congressman, what do you predict will happen? will we have a deal? >> i don't know. we got called into a meeting tonight, in washington, d.c., in fact, i am leaving here to fly to washington right away. the meeting was not supposed to take place until the morning. ordinarily, that means that something is up. you mentioned in the intro to this piece that there is a 3:00 deadline. it may be a testament to the fact that we are up against's deadline. i don't know. i hope we will see something clean and simple in the next 24 to 48 hours. if the president load its up with stim scplus unemployment insurance and delays on the spending cuts, we are going to have a problem. but i am getting more comfortable that we will see something in the next 24 hours. >> eric: we'll see what happens. happy new year, by the way -- if we can have one.
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nice tie. [chuckles] >> eric, thanks very much. >> economists have warned of a double-dip recession if a deal is not reached. how likely is that to happen? what does that mean for you? we have an economist at the university of maryland and former chief economist with the united states international trade commission here. thank you for joining us. >> nice to be with you. >> so what happens to all of us if we go off the cliff? who will be hit the hardest? >> well, if we genuinely go off the cliff, the lower-income people will be hit the hardest because one of the things that mr. obama doesn't give republicans enough credit, is that the bush tax cuts were most generous for low-income people and less so for middle-income people. and on top of that, mr. obama has put in place what was supposed to be temporary benefits that have turned out to be permanent, which will also expire. he has credibilitied to further
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dependency on the government in that way. >> how that will affect our take-home pay? >> it will be down rather substantially for middle-income people, several thousand a year. you will see a drop by $200 to $300 a month. it will have a pronounced effect on the economy by february. >> you said, by february. there are some strategist who is have said that the fiscal cliff won't hit the economy right away. tell actually give lawmakers more time to continue negotiating. but how long can our economy take the uncertainty? >> it is not just uncertainty. we have had that factored in. the reality is that unless the president suspends the increase in payroll taxes that are going to take place, not just social security, but withholding for income tax, while they continue to negotiate, we have gone off the cliff. in the month of january, people will live off their credit cards, but they can only do that so long. come february and march, the higher taxes will require
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adjustments in the spending habits of folk who is make between $25,000 and $100,000 a year. i would point out that this is no reason to give the president everything he wants and pass that bill that he proposes because if the republicans do that, they lose all their leverage. i have news for most people. if we dont curb our spending, everybody's going to have to pay the higher taxes in the end because things are flying out of ceil. >> no one's talking about spending cuts right now t. does not look like they will be part of the stop-gap measure. and the alternative minimum tax. explain how that is going to affect people. >> the alternative minimum tax has a threshold that we have been adjusting over time for inflation. if they don't do something about that by january 1 or something about that retroactively, then many middle-income americans will pay 26 to 28% of their income in taxes. those are the kines of taxes that someone who makes $500,000
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a year pay, in terms of average tax. there will be a whopping inexrees in tax burdens. they are going to have that retroactively into 2011 on their income tax return and going forward. tell wreak chaos. the president being persistent that it's my way or the highway, taxes on folks over $250,000 or nothing has put a pistol to the head of the middle class. it has threatened them with financial extortion if he doesn't get his way to satisfy the populist wing of the democratic party. >> all right. estate and gift taxes? >> they're going up. the threshold in the bush years on the estate tax went up from $1 million to about $5 million. that would fall back to $1 million and the rate would go from 35% on anything over the threshold to 55%. i expect that to get extended and extended retroactively
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regardless of what happens. you have to remember, the democrats have lots of small businesses that support their campaign, as well as republicans. and it really requires the liquidation of small businesses and farms when the owner dies. >> thank you so much. we appreciate your insight as always. we'll see what happens, 48 hours to go. thank you. >> thank you. >> eric: meanwhile, the senate is working on approving a $16.4 billion recovery package for areas hit by super storm sandy, including $12 billion to repair the new york and new jersey transportation system, and strengthening them. but it faces uncertainty heading into the house. we have more from molly. >> reporter: yes, it's passed the senate. there are a couple of reasons why it might languish in the house -- the fiscal cliff and the amount of the bill.
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the fiscal cliff is sucking all the oxygen out of the room. it is possible that the sandy relief bill could be tacked on to any other bill, it is not certain. also, some conservative lawmakers want a smaller bill to go to the recovery, not the one passed by the senate. with the tight economic situation, they may want to scale it back or include spending cuts elsewhere to offset the cost of the aid package. when it was going through the senate, 12 senate republicans voted for passage of the sandy bill. the rest voted against t. now te possible holdup in the house has led governors of new jersey, new york and connecticut, to lean on the lawmakers, writing, so the question to each and every member of the house is, if this storm had struck your constituency and devastated it the way sandy has ours, would you say that the house has done enough? with the house reconvening to
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help the nation avoid the fiscal cliff, remember that disasters affect every region of this nation and that we as a nation stand together in times of crisis. house g.o.p. speaker john boehner has signaled he supports sandy aid. but his spokesman says that the speaker has not decided whether or not to bring up this bill in this session of congress, which ends on thursday. if they don't take it up by thursday, the senate bill will expire and the new congress will have to start all over again. >> eric: all right. thanks. >> coming up, russia has banned adoptions by u.s. families. coming up, we will speak with a couple in the process of adopting this little boy, about their ordeal and how right now, they can't bring him home and give him the life that they say he deserves. >> eric: we will give smuadvice about how young people can start now for planning for their retirement. that's right, without breaking the bank. advice on building, not breaking your nest egg, as you get older.
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>> we are just 48 hours away from new year's eve. why is all that confetti falling now? we will have an answer, coming up. sometimes what we suffer from
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or signs of unusual behavior, stop taking tamiflu and call your doctor immediately. children and adolescents in particular may be at an increased risk of seizures, confusion or abnormal behavior. the most common side effects are mild to moderate nausea and vomiting. the flu comes on fast, so ask your doctor about tamiflu. prescription for flu.
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>> eric: some visitors in times square got a big surprise, even though new year's eve is tomorrow night. guess what? >> happy new year! >> eric: they started throwing confetti out the windos. they are practicing for membered night. organizers getting ready, testing the confetti. how do you test confetti? you see where it goes, where it flies, where it lands.
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some of the confet hewishes written by people from 50 countries around the world. isn't that great? well, of course, you can stay nice and cozey and warm at home, and watch bill hammer and megyn kelley. >> 17 million pieces of confetti who knew. how do you get to be one of the people who throws out the confetti. wouldn't that be fun? yeah. >> heather: cool story. happy new year. well, it is never too early to start planning for retirement. in fact, the earlier, the better. in today's take-charge consumer protection segment, we have life-changing tips to help people in their 20s, prepare for the future. we have the founder and ceo of poult financial group. this advice would be for me and for you, correct? >> oh, i wish. [laughter] >> heather: so how much should people have in their retirement? what should they aim for?
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why do most people have too little? >> i will start with the last one first. people have too little because we are not hard wired to do this correctly. we want to live in the now-- the pair of shoes, the gizzmo, the car, we want it all now. and retirement, 40 years seems so far away. i can actual, it comes up fast. >> heather: you have five steps to avoid the pitfalls of not having enough. we can begin with the first one, the first tip is to find ways and you just referenced this, to spend less money. so don't buy that new pair of shoes when you want them, right? >> absolutely. you know, we fritter away so much money. there are a million ways. just little things, if you have a car and you trade in your car every five years, make it six. if you are going on vacation for a week, make it six days instead of seven. bring lunch one day a week to work. drink water instead of alcohol for a month, see the money that
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you can save. you would be amazed. $20 a week turns into, after 40 years, about $154,000, with a little bit of earnings on it. >> heather: you mentioned drinking water instead of alcohol, which is the next tip, stay healthy. >> i have to admit, i am a hypocrite here. what i am going to be telling people is do as i say, not as i do. have you to eat right. i mean, come on, we know, cut out the fat, eat the veggies, have the fruit and the grains, you know? as we get into the new year, we can try again to do a better job this year. but also, move more. i know we always say, check with your doctor first. move more, if you can walk to the post office, a free public library, getting out the free book or dvd, you can find that $20 a week. at the same time, you can be getting yourself healthy. >> heather: we can all do that. third, invest in your career. >> absolutely.
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what you have to realize, the more education you have, the lower your unemployment rate and the more likely you are to keep that job and to be making money. take advantage ever everything your employer offers to you. i had my entire mba and finance paid for by my employener my 20s. look for opportunities and take advantage of every one of them. it will mean money in the short run and scpreer life-changing alternatives for you in the long run. >> heather: this tip we can all do -- increase your permanent retirement savings. >> people get confused between temporary and permanent savings. i am talking the money comes in and never comes out. young people have it on your side. you have the power of compounding and time on your side. if you could put in that extra $1,000 a year, that's $20 a week, you know, in 10 years, it doesn't sound like much, if you earn 6%, it's only $13,000. but if you go 20, 30, 40 years out and you are getting into
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retirement, that $1,000, if you put in $40,000, it's now $154,000. and if you get the employer to match on top of that, you might have double that. very small things you do early amount up. >> heather: if you start early, you don't miss it. learn and keep learning, finally. >> you know, this kind ever segment that you are doing is wonderful. the people watching are doing t. but keep reading -- you know, go to your university, take classes, they are offering financial literacy classes. i teach one. you would be amazed at how much we don't know when we are starting out. don't go to a sales seminar. go to a bonnified financial literacy course. >> heather: lots of tips! we got through all of them. >> have a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. >> heather: thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. >> eric: let's face it -- we're broke! so says house majority leader
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john boehner. what does the fiscal cliff really mean for us? you know, any deal will likely not address the deficit. so what we can expect from lawmakers, after the deadline is over. we will take a look at that. >> heather: a few more arguments. russian president vladimir putin is putting adoptions on hold for american families, like this boy, four years old. his future is on hoild because the president of russia says so. what his american abts adoptive parents have to say to putin. i have a cold, and i took nyquil, but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms
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plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth! mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.
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>> heather: welcome back. here are the stories making headlines at this hour. a small plane crashes in a park in san diego, killing all three passengers. both the faa and the ntsb are investigating the cause. to syria, where government forces say they have captured a strategic neighborhood, after several days of fierce battle with rebel fighters n. pakistan, new sectarian bloodshed, a homicide bomber, rams a vehicle, packed with explosive, with a bus carrying religious pilgrims. 19 people died. >> eric: as we have been following this morning, the fiscal cliff deadline. we are getting closer. but even if lawmakers managed to
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reach a deal in time, they will likely put off big decisions on taxes and entitlement programs and the growing $16 trillion budget deficit. how do we deal with that? the former deputy assistant to former president george bush. brad and joe, welcome. >> good to be with you. >> eric: of course. brad, i mean, this morning, the with the was on with the meet the press," blaming republicans. the republicans call it a lack of presidential leadership. does this thing get solved? >> no, it certainly doesn't get solved the way it should be solved. we have debt, we is sequestration, any bill that happens today won't deal with the sequestration, which lindy graham said right here, he got a call last night from the defense secretary, worried to death that sequestration is going to gut the military. we are kicking the can down the road. judgment day is coming. there is no question about t. but the president, remember when he appointed the bipartisan
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simpson-bowles commission. they had tough love for us two years ago. they told the president what we needed on current spending and future spending and debt reduction. but the president shelved it. we could have avoided this self-create created crisis, by the president leading 2 years ago and doing the tough love we needed then and saving the crisis now. >> eric: joe, you're a former navy admiral, commanding an aircraft battleship group. you know the pentagon. could the president have avoided this through presidential leadership, the potential gut, as they claim, of the military? >> well, i think on the whole picture, both the president and speaker boehner have the best intentions of the united states economy at heart eye really believe that. they came within $500 billion, within the $2 picture 5 trillion debt reduction they wanted to have. they came that close and weren't able to pull it off. but now both parties have to not
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hold up a mirror to each other, but to themselves and say, how do we resolve it? the first step is the fiscal cliff. if we take $700 billion out of our economy over the next year, our gross domestic product will grind do a halt. we will have zero growth next year, which means a recession. what they have to do now, i know it's ridiculous, but over the next few dayings, get that down to about $100 to $200 billion. brad's spot on. we cannot afford these crazy cuts across the defense and domestic programs at this particular time. if we can get it below $200 billion, then we can have -- instead of a fiscal cliff, a gradual slope so that, like a skier on a bunny slope, our economy -- which is fragile -- will continue to accelterate. then, what has to be done, is step back, as brad noted and say that simpson-bowles gave us a good outline. $1 of revenue for every $2 of
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tax cuts. we have to have the political courage in washington, d.c. to make this work for americans? >> how come we don't have that political courage? >> well, i don't know. you know, my take is that having been in the navy, the thing we most value wasn't responsibility, it was accountability for those whom you are responsible, willing to lose your job over doing what's right for them -- many people want the authority, want the responsibility, but they are not worried to step up and do a principled compromise whether they can't have it all their way and say this is what's needed to be done. frankly, they don't generate the political will -- on either side. i think that the president, speaker boehner came close, twice, but they have to do it all the way and be the bane of the respective base fist they have to do to what's needed for america. >> eric: brad, the investors business daily had a scorching editorial against congress, blaming congress, saying we got here because individuals in congress have no skin in the
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game. the ibd says, for example, the net worth of members of congress has increased 5% and the average american has lost 39%. do you agree with na? and how do we as joe says, get some courage on capitol hill and in the white house to enact simpson-bowles and deal with the deficit and the problems that we have? >> in washington, we have a lot of politicians, but we are light on statesmen and -women. we need people to accept the responsibility for tough decisions and think about our future. i coined a new term -- a momentarrian. we live in the moment. great societies provide for the moment but plan for the future. there is no future. we are crisis after crisis in the moment. when we get the leadership we need in america, we will understand that we not only have to solve our problems today, but we have to look to the future. that's the kind of leadership we are going to need. we have tough problems, no problem we have cannot be solved. the will to solve it and the leadership and the determination
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to do the right things, now. let's get politics out of the equation and g some leadership in. we can solve this thing. but what i think should happen today is not put a gun to legislator's heads. if the president wants to drive off the cliff, we shouldn't be in the car. we should have a one-page bill to keep the status quo on spending, sequestration and taxes for 90 days, let's get a new congress in there and solve the problems. >> eric: brad -- bottom line -- that one-page bill, that's not going to happen. what do you think will happen? >> look, any republican who votes for a bill again, they are not able to scprd digest, cbo hasn't scored, is not worth voting on? >> eric: joe? >> you will see an outline over the next day. the details are going tog to be hammered down in the first week or two of january. that's okay because if the treasury department knows that we are about to have some sort of a deal, it's going to be a small deal -- that they won't
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start the tax withholding that is about to go in 1 january. on defense, which you mentioned, eric, that $50 billion that is coze -- supposed to take place, most of it is in procurement and research & development, only 50% is spent in the first year. the deal hahas to be done is very simple. not $727 billion of tax increases and spending cuts. get it below $200 billion, the gross domestic product can grow at over 3%. then we can accelebrateoerate. but brad's spot on, as you are, if we don't come together by the end of february in a grand bargain, it is believe party first, it's americans first. i think it's spending reductions with entitlement reform. the president took one step towards that. speaker boehner took one step on the other dollar, needed for every $2 of spending cuts, tax revenues. he has to take a step more.
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americans want it to work pragmatically. that has to be done-- joe, do you think this president will really do that when it comes to spending? >> yes because he has to. there is no choice. when entitlements are 60% of our budget and baby boomers are beginning to retire, or like brad has -- just kidding -- [chuckles] >> have you to understand, we don't have a choice. we can do it and still protect seniors. look, president reagan did do it in 1983. he changed the age. and said it's not 65, it's going to be 67. we have yet to get to that 67th year age. we did get to 66. you can do it in a way that doesn't harm the present generation of seniors and second, salvage its for the future. but you can't do it as most mainstream economists tell you, without revenues coming in. we do need to have a balanced approach to this. and those revenues, when over
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the last 50 years, the taxes for the wealthy to pay their fair share -- they have gone down almost 50% when you include federal, state and local. and for the rest of the 99%, it stayed about flute. that's why the people are take talking about a fair share -- [overlapping dialogue] >> eric. >> that's what both leaders have to do. >> eric: joe, let me get brad in. brad, do you think this president can take a page from president reagan and deal with the spending? >> it depends if he turns into bill clinton or remains barack obama. clinton understood his legacy, was what was important and he would be remembered as somebody who was good on the economy, as a democrat. guess what? he wasn't a typical democrat. he was forced to change. a lot of it had to do with the fact that the congress changed. we have divided government. if the president wants the same old, same old, he will get t.
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the republicans won't cave. it's equal branchings of government. they control two-thirds and it takes three to tango, the senate, white hussein. >> eric: terrific debate. >> heather: who is leading in the tango, that's what we don't know. congressional leaders are trying to come up with that deal, with less than two days before massive tax hikes and spending cuts kick in and small businesses are already being affected. companies have no idea how much more they are going to owe uncle sam next year. that is affecting how they are doing business right now. we have those details from the new york city newsroom. >> reporter: many small, owners are hesitating to expand, for fear their bottom line will suffer as the fiscal cliff looms and congress can't seem to compromise. the owner of an internet marketing company is concerned that the change in tax rates will hurt his ability to hire. he says the uncertainty is making him run his business
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defensively, making decisions based on business already coming in because he can't risk losing it all. >> knowing the rules has -- is -- is much more important than what the rules really are. because then you can actually say, okay, this is what we can do, this is what our margins are going to look like. this is what we are going to be able to plan on. >> reporter: economists say one of the effects of the fiscal cliff is that businesses are holding back on spending money, whether re-investing in stock, machinery and equipment or products they sell and for a slowly strengthening economy, the shock of less spending could be all it takes to push the country back into a recession. >> businesses are not require -- hiring workers because the small businesses say, we can't hire right now until we know what the tax system is going to look like and what our tax bill is going to be in 2013. >> reporter: economists say it
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will decrease the money in the pockets of consumers, so they will have less cash to put back into the economy, buying goods and services. >> heather: thank you very much. >> eric: imagine trying to adopt eighths boy from russia. and then suddenly, it's on hold. coming up, how one family's dealing with the heart life breaking russian adoption ban.
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>> heather: welcome back. last week, many american families, they were left in shock, following a move by russia to ban u.s. adoptions. the new law, signed by president putin will go into effect on january 1. and it will essentially leave many couples like aaron and jenny moyer in limbo. they are in the process of adopting this adorable boy. they traveled to russia. they spent a lot of time getting to know him. but the new law may change everything. joining me now are aaron and jenny moyer. thank you for taking the time to join us today, first of all. >> thank you. >> heather: so with the new year, you were expecting to add a new addition to your family. this precious four-year-old little boy. you have two biological sons, i believe. you have one adopted daughter. tell me about this boy? >> well, vitale is one of the
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kindest and most radiant people we have ever met. he's four. he has down's syndrome. he is just a treasure. >> heather: you were able to travel to russia. we are taking a look at the pictures of you playing with him. i am sure he has your heart already. tell me about your visits with him. >> he is just a joy to be with. he warmed up to us. he wants to play like any four-year-old boy would. progressively, through our visits, he got more and more warm and loving and he was very excited to see us. he just perked up when we come back in the room. >> heather: by all account, in your heart and your mind, he is your son i. absolutely. >> heather: now with these changes that are going on and this ban that has been implemented, potentially, he may not bible to come home. where is he now? and what will happen if that's the case? >> you know, he is in -- we are
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fortunate, vitali is in a wonderful orphanage with a director that loves him. she loves us. she sees the value and the special needs children that are there. we are just not sure at this point when we are going to be able to see him again, if we will be able to see him again and what would happen. >> heather: have huany contact at all? are you able to contact them at this point? >> we are in contact with the director through emailing. so that's been good. but we can't communicate with him. >> heather: oh. i don't want to upset you. but what will happen if he isn't able to come to america, to what would conceivably be a great life here with a great family? >> well, we are hoping. but there is a possibility of institutionalization between the age of 4 and 5, children with
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special needs are institutionalized, that's where they spend the rest of their life. >> heather: you are know alone. unicef estimates dollar 740,000 children not in parental custody right now, like vitale, in russia. and only 18,000 russians are waiting to adopt. i know you are not a politician, neither one of you are. but you are parents. so what do you think about this -- this ban that has been implementd? you are hopeful that it will be lifted? >> we are hopeful. that's what we are praying for. we love the russian there's we met. we love the country and the sweet children are just joyous angels. >> heather: finally, what would you have to say to everyone out there, watching your story, and others just like you, across america, who have opened their hearts and their homes to thyself children who need homes?
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what do you have have to say about this? >> well, i would encourage them that, you know, god steps stepso families and orphans find mercy in him. we believe those promises are true for every russian orphan and every orphan throughout the world. specifically for vitale because he is the son of our hearts. >> i would just say to the russian people, i would say that we love you guys. we love the children in your country. and we want to raise them to respect and to love the country they were born in. but we want to do that in a setting where they have a mom, dad, brothers and sisters and teach them -- we want to show them and teach them the heart of jesus, that he has plans to prosper and give them hope in the future. >> heather: thank you so much. we will keep an eye on this story, as everyone is across the country and on your particular
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situation. thank you so much. we appreciate it. our prayers are with your family. >> thank you. >> heather: with precious four-year-old vitale, still in russia, hopeful that he can come and make a new life. the controversial measure going into effect, signed by vladimir putin, banning the adoption of russian children by u.s. families. we'll be right back.
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>> you know, during heard economic time, a lot of people are hoping a little luck can turn things around, turning a windfall into the lottery. california pulling in $4.8 billion in the lottery. there are concerns that all of that money spent on a game when people can hardly afford
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everyday necessities. we have the latest from los angeles. >> reporter: good morning, eric. states across the nation, lottery sales were rising in 2012. according to the experts, it has a lot to do with the state of the economy. >> are you going to walk away with it? >> reporter: even when times are tough, lot rows rake in the dough. >> in bad times, people want to have hopes and dreams and they are living identity those dreams in the lottery. >> reporter: lottery sales nationwide jumped 9% over 2011, which was up 7% from 2010. >> it's a fun diversion, a fun recreational activity, a fun way to give flight to our imagination about what we might do if we won $1 million. >> reporter: states see it as a way to supplement lost tax revenues. >> i won! yes! >> reporter: in california, which has the nation's third highest unemployment rate, lottery sales are up 20%. >> the million-dollar raffle is
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back. >> reporter: rhode island gamblers dumped 7% more into lotto tickets as the jobless rate climbed to number 2. why the trend when we know the odds are not in our favor. >> you are 100 times more likely to die from a flesh-eating virus. >> reporter: there is no chance of winning if you don't play and the chance for instant wealth keeps people coming bafor more. >> the best thing to do is hang on to your dollar, instead of buying a lottery ticket. >> reporter: most financial advisers will tell you, they don't have anything against the lottery per se, they suggest looking at it as a recreational expense, not an investment strategy. but i am going to play. >> eric: bet with your head, not over it. keep the lottery dough low. >> heather: not an investment strategy. good advice. the countdown to 2013 is a countdown to tax hikes and spending cuts. lawmakers are running out of
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time to avert the fiscal cliff. the latest on the 11th-hour scramble.
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